Golden Moments
by ladypatpatriot
Summary: Been watching the Olympics this week and was inspired to write this story about Elizabeth competing in the games that are held in Vancouver. She is a gymnast, hoping that at the unprecedented at of 26, she could win a medal. Told from the points of view of Elizabeth and Jack.
1. Chapter 1

Golden Moments

Elizabeth's POV

As she walked towards the vault with her teammates to have her chance to warm up, she thought to herself: _**This is it, Elizabeth. This is your last chance to get a medal. People doubted you could do this at age twenty-six but you have proved them wrong. Now it's time to be the best in the world. You were so close four years ago. Let's do this.**_ She smiled at her teammates, mostly sixteen and seventeen year olds with her teammate and co-captain of the current team, twenty-three year old Jenna Sweeny. Their team had placed fourth and she and Jenna had landed fourth and fifth in the all-around. They had been so close. Now they were considered one of the top gymnastic teams in the world and she and Jenna were considered to be medal contenders. She wanted this moment so badly she could taste it.

After she did a warmup on the vault, she thought she heard Jack cheering for her. She looked up into the stands and their eyes met. He smiled at her and held up his index finger, indicating that he felt she was number one, and maybe she was in his mind. She blew him a kiss as she walked back down to wait for her turn on the vault.

She had met Jack shortly after the last Olympics when she moved to Hope Valley to start her teaching career. Her coach had tried to convince her that she should try one last time. She was still good at twenty-two and he felt should could be even better at twenty-six. She has scoffed at the idea; women gymnasts were considered old at twenty-two. How could she still be good in four years? She remembered back to her telling Jack about being an Olympian on one of their dates early on in their relationship. He had been so excited to hear that she had competed in 2 Olympics. She then confessed what her coach wanted her to do; she had been thinking about it more herself. His eyes had grown wide and he got this big smile on his face. He had told her he thought it was a great idea and he would support her with whatever her decision would be.

And that was just what he did. He built her a gym where she could train and it had a small apartment in the back for Coach Henry Wagner to live in. He was a bachelor and didn't have any family, so he had no problem moving to Hope Valley. It had been hard to work on training for the Olympics in Vancouver with her teaching full time but she managed. She even started a gymnastics school on weekends for her students who were interested in the sport. Some of the girls were quite good, catching the eye of Coach Wagner. He came to her with an idea of her becoming a coach herself after her Olympics career was over. The thought excited her but she pushed it back in her mind to concentrate on her training.

Here she was, at the team final. She felt even more nervous than she did four or even eight years ago. Maybe it was because it was her last chance at a medal or maybe it was because Jack was there in the audience, so proud of her. He had told her that even if she didn't win a medal (but he was sure she would) she would always be a gold medal winner to him. Even if she hadn't won the World Championships the last two years and won silver the year before, she was a champion in his heart and that was all that mattered.

She pulled herself out of her thoughts to prepare herself for her vault, the first event of the night. Next they would move to uneven bars, the beam and finally the floor. The vault was definitely her weakest even but she still managed to get high scores. She walked up to the runway, waited until it was her turn to go and raised her arms to indicate to the judges she was ready. She started running towards the vault and the next thing she knew she had stuck the landing on the other side of the vault. She could hear Jack yelling from the stands. This was the best vault she had ever done and she hoped she could remember exactly what she did so she could replicate it in two nights. Team Canada was in first place after the first rotation. Elizabeth gathered her things and moved with the rest of the team to the bars.


	2. The Vault, Jack's POV

Jack settled into his seat in the arena where the gymnastics competitions were being held. He had bought the closest seat he could get to the floor, so he would have a better chance at watching Elizabeth compete. He also had brought his IPad with him so he could watch replays. He was so excited for her. He had been ever since the day he found out that she was an Olympic gymnast. It had been him who helped her decide to give it one last shot. He designed and built a gym for her in Hope Valley and had talked to her coach about moving there. He began researching the sport, so he could understand what to expect at her competitions. He traveled with her whenever he could to cheer her on. He had been present when she won her first gold medal at the worlds. As the Canadian National Anthem played and the flag were raised, he felt tears come to his eyes. He had never been more proud of her than at that moment. It was that night that he asked her to become his wife. They were married on Christmas Eve that same year.

Applause brought him out of his memories. He looked down and saw that Team Canada was making their way to the vault. Elizabeth was leading the way, as team co-captain. He watched as she warmed up and he called down to her as she finished her practice run. She looked up at him, met his gaze and blew him a kiss before she went to sit down to wait her turn. After several minutes, it was time. He watched as she indicated to the judges she was ready. She ran down the runway and hurled herself over the fault, landing perfectly on the mat without taking any steps or jumps. Jack rose to his feet and cheered. She had nailed her vault. He waited with baited breath for her score to be posted. He knew that vault was her weakest event but she still managed to score high. In his opinion, her vault was perfect although he knew that the era of perfect scores in gymnastics was over. Finally her score was posted and it was the highest she had ever received on this particular apparatus. Again he felt pride for her. As the team moved on to the uneven bars, he sat back down in his seat and pulled out his IPad, were he preceded to watch Elizabeth's vault over and over again.

 _I plan to have these chapters short. They are going to be Jack and Elizabeth's thoughts as she moves around to each event._


	3. Uneven Bars: Elizabeth

Uneven Bars

Elizabeth

She put her bag down in the waiting area and walked up to the stage to wait for her warmup. She had been working on a new connected move that, if successful would earn her a higher score. If not, it could cost her team a medal. She had been agonizing over it for days. Coach Wagner was on the fence about it as well. They had come to the decision since she had done it to almost perfection while practicing that day and if she could nail it in warmups, she would include it in the routine. If not, she would leave it out.

Finally it was her turn for warmup. She jumped on the spring board and grabbed the high bar. She began moving from bar to bar, doing hand stands and jumps off the high bar. Finally she was at the place for her new move. She leaped off the bar and began her move. When she felt she was at the point to reach for the bar again, she opened her eyes and panicked. She was too far away; she reached as far as she could but her fingers grazed the bar and she fell to the mats below. Stunned, she laid there for a moment, listening to the gasps from her teammates and from the crowd. She thought she may have heard Jack screaming her name but her heart was pounding so loud she couldn't be sure. Coach Wagner was by her side in an instant, asking her if she could get up. She nodded and grabbed his extended arm to stand. She thought she would feel dizzy but once she was on two feet she felt much better. She turned to her coach and told him she would be leaving that move out of her routine. He nodded in agreement, put his arm around her and walked her to the chairs to wait her turn to go before the judges. Thankfully she was last on the rotation and could take a few minutes to regroup. She sent a message to Jack in her mind that she was fine, that she just had the wind taken out of her. She hoped he would get it.

When it was time for her routine, she got up, squared her shoulders and marched up the bars. She wasn't going to let what happened in warmup to affect her. She jumped up to the high bar did her routine, almost flawlessly; she felt she may have shortened her hand stands but she did nail the landing. She held her breath as she waited for the score. Finally, it was posted. She had the highest score, not just for Team Canada but for the whole competition so far. She prayed to God, thanking him for helping her get herself together after the fall and prayed for His guidance during the rest of the competition. She collected her belongings and moved with the team towards the balance beam, which by far was her best event.


End file.
